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Tuesday, January 27, 2015

I'm posting the night before since I'm moving tomorrow!! I started the apartment search in November, so I am ready for the move to be over.

In honor of History's Sons of Liberty, I decided to post about Patriot Hearts by Barbara Hambly. The book opens with Dolly Madison anticipating the British marching on Washington during the War of 1812, and the story is flashbacks of events during the American Revolution. History tracks the founding fathers, but this book focuses on Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, Sally Hemings and Dolley Madison. I sped through this book and it was a great perspective from our founding mothers.

When Martha Dandridge Custis marries her second husband, George, she
never suspects that the soft-spoken Virginia planter is destined to
command the founding of a nation—or that she is to be “Lady Washington,”
the woman at the first President’s side. Only a select inner circle of
women will know the cost of sharing a beloved man with history . . . and
each will draw strength from the unique treasure given to them by a
doomed queen.

Seeing farm and family through each harsh New
England season, Abigail Adams is sustained only by the fervent reunions
stolen between John’s journeys abroad. She will face the terror of an
ocean crossing to join her husband in France—and write her own page in
history. And there she will cross paths with kings, commoners—and young
Sally Hemings.

Just as Sally had grown from a clever child to a
beautiful woman, so had her relationship with Thomas Jefferson grown
from a friendship between slave and master to one entangled in the
complexities of black and white, decorum and desire. It is a
relationship that will leave Sally to face an agonizingly wrenching
choice.

Dolley Madison, too, must live with the repercussions
of a forbidden love affair—although she will confront even greater
trials as a President’s wife. But Dolley will become one of the
best-loved ladies of the White House—and leave an extraordinary legacy
of her own.

A lushly written novel that traces the marriages tested by the demands of love and loyalty, Patriot Hearts
offers readers a dazzling glimpse behind the scenes of a revolution,
from adversity and treachery to teatime strategies, as four magnificent
women shape a nation’s future.

If you're a long-time reader, you might know which race this will be. If you're new, my worst race was the 2014 Disney World half marathon. It's my worse race because everything was against me, from training to weather to mood, it's one of those races I'd like a do-over, starting with maybe even signing up.

Let's rewind a little bit. In 2013, I was signed up to do the Eugene half marathon that April, and training was going very well until mid-March, when I was hit with the dreaded ITBS. I was able to push through the rest of training and PR at the half, but my right leg blew up. Even with all that, I figured with rest, foam rolling and stretching, I would be able to do the 2014 Disney World half and I signed up when registration opened.

Speed up and not only was my ITBS still present, it got worse over the fall, even after switching shoes, seeing a chiropractor (who did fix a lot of other issues), even walking during training. I couldn't run more than 2 miles without being hit with excruciating pain. But I signed up for the half, so I was doing the race. Shows how stupid I can be when my stubborn streak kicks in.

So I walked. I walked the entire 13.1 miles at Disney and I didn't enjoy it one bit. After seeing the 10k medals, I was kicking myself for not doing the 10k instead. I was having fun with family and friends, having fun in the parks, but all I wanted was for the race to be over. The weather was so humid, it was awful. My fingers swelled up to sausages and I was desperate for salt on the course. My leg was heavily taped, but that still didn't prevent it from bothering me during the second half of the course. But I finished!

My time was awful! I came in just under 16 minutes a mile, but I did it. It's the bad experiences that teaches us about perseverance and I learned I could still complete 13.1 miles when everything was against me. It certainly wasn't fun, and I know it'll be a while before I do another half. Now that I'm now just coming back from ITBS, I'm finding the fun in running again. I'll do a race when I'm ready, but I'm enjoying being back at it.

Monday, January 26, 2015

What a busy weekend! I'm moving this Wednesday but I picked up my keys on Friday. I've shuttled some stuff over and am just waiting for the movers. You don't how much kitchen crap you have until you have to pack it up and move it. I did 2 trips each Friday, Saturday and Sunday and yet the kitchen isn't all transferred. I did move stuff from the linen closet and my closet to break things up.

Saturday was a great day, I did 2.25 miles! Pain free! I'm building a long run playlist and I'm having so much fun again. Saturday was also my 30th birthday, and I picked up 3 cakes on Friday from Nothing Bundt Cakes. I got their tower of 3 bundtinis with carrot cake, red velvet, and pecan praline.

Sunday I also had fun spending Christmas and birthday gift cards. I finally bought the Crock Pot I wanted and I'll make my first meal with it next weekend. I have the recipe printed out and I'm excited to try it. Sunday is also the 1-year anniversary since I got Allie.

I'd say things are going pretty well.

Sunday night I also got to feed my history nerd. The History Channel has a mini series of the Sons of Liberty, and Sunday night they started with the governor trying to arrest Sam Adams and ended with the Boston Massacre.

Friday, January 23, 2015

1) I'm Texas born but not raised. I lived in Arizona, Wisconsin and Massachusetts before moving back to Texas.

2) I played soccer and lacrosse growing up, but hated running. It was always something I had to do, and I didn't find the joy in it until I was 24.

3) I am a Parrothead. I've been to 7 Jimmy Buffett concerts and have *cough cough* 172 of his songs on my iPod. Some are repeats since I have studio albums and several concert albums.

4) My first half marathon was run Disney's Princess half, but I'm not a princess/damsel in distress person. My favorite Disney "princess" is Belle, and I swear the studio animated me for Anna. Don't know how they did that. And I was pretty much like Merida when I was 16, just ask my parents.

5) If you haven't been able to tell by my book reviews :-p I'm a history nut. Any kind of history, American history, British history, Russian history. It was my best subject in school and I love it to this day.

Thursday, January 22, 2015

I'll admit, I'm enjoying the HIIT training. It's something new so I'm not sure the shine will diminish, but I'm enjoying the change of pace. I avoided HIIT in the past because in high school, I'd get light headed if I tried it, and then when I started running, I thought why increase my heartrate when I'm already doing that with my running. Cross-training's supposed to be a break from that.

This is not a review, but I'm getting a lot of help with Fitnessista's new book, HIIT It! I needed a reference because aside from the Jillian Michaels workouts, I wasn't sure what else there was to HIIT. HIIT It! not only has examples of what a HIIT exercise is, but it includes many different workouts. How can I get bored and plateau when there are so many to chose from?

There's also a section on nutrition, and recipes from her blog are provided. I'm not really looking to do HIIT to lose weight, but there are some recipes I've tagged to try in the future. Fish tacos, protein breakfast cookies, chicken... I really want to try the breakfast cookies, but I don't want to buy a huge thing of protein powder until after I move. It would be just another thing for me to lug over to my new apartment.

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Every once in a while, I'll come across a book, put it back, but whenever I'm in a bookstore, I pick it up again, then finally buy it after doing that a few times. That was how I bought A Royal Likeness. I just couldn't decide if I wanted to read it, then I bought it a couple days before traveling. I knew I needed something to read to pass the time in the airport and on the plane. What started as just needing something to read turned out to be quite an interesting book, though maybe some events were a little far-fetched. I still enjoyed it, and would recommend it. This was how I was introduced to Christine Trent's books, and I've been reading them ever since. She's written both historical novels and mysteries.

As heiress to the famous Laurent Fashion Dolls business, Marguerite
Ashby's future seems secure. But France still seethes with violence in
the wake of the Revolution. And when Marguerite's husband is killed
during a riot, the young widow travels to Edinburgh and becomes
apprentice to her old friend, Marie Tussaud, who has established a wax
exhibition. When Prime Minister William Pitt commissions a wax figure of
Admiral Nelson, Marguerite becomes immersed in a dangerous adventure -
and earns the admiration of two very different men. And as Britain
battles to overthrow Napoleon, Marguerite will find her loyalties under
fire from all sides. With a masterful eye for details, Christine Trent
brings one of history's most fascinating eras to life in of a story of
desire, ambition, treachery, and courage.

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Tuesdays on the Run is about running in the dark this week, but since I don't do that due to the coyotes and bobcats, this post will be a Thinking Out Loud.

I had to take my car in for an oil change and I decided Monday would be a good day to do it. I didn't know if the dealership was open so I went to NTB because it was super convenient, and closer. There is nothing like a car to spring unexpected expenses on someone, and my car did that... I needed a new battery. NTB tests the system to make sure the car is doing well, and my battery failed the test. ARGH!! And during the month I'm moving!

Honestly, though, I'm not surprised. I got that old battery almost 4 years ago, so the fact that it made it through 4 Texas summers, plus almost 4 whole Texas winters is impressive. But really? Now? They said it was probably still good at the moment, but another cold snap would kill it off. This is Texas, we could very well get another one without any warning, so what choice did I have? I hope my car appreciates it!

Another random thought was due to Monday's hockey game. The Americans don't have their usual DJ, and it certainly sounds it at the games. I walk in and they had music from a British boy band (no idea if it was One Direction), and then during the game, he also put on Selena Gomez. Now, I don't remember pop music being that bad, but maybe I was in my teenage world in high school. I mean, I still have BSB and *NSYNC on my iPod, even a little Christina Aguilera. I'll definitely take America's Justin over Canada's.

My last (or actually first in order) random thought of the weekend was about Hollywood musicals. I thought Into the Woods was a dud, and I didn't like Les Miz either because they ruined the soundtrack. Well, I was reminded on Sunday how great movie musicals could be. Since I don't watch football, I settled on Fiddler on the Roof on TCM. It may not be cheery, but the adaptation is very well done. I don't care how long a movie is, if it's good and worth my time, it'll hold my attention. Oh, and after that, TCM had To Kill a Mockingbird. Thank you TCM!!

Monday, January 19, 2015

This weekend was the first ever Star Wars race weekend at Disneyland. I didn't participate :-( but I knew the races would have some great costumes. The pictures have not disappointed. When I saw the pictures from the 5k, I wanted to watch Star Wars, but there was only one problem... I'd packed most of my DVDs, so I had to go digging. This was one I wanted to watch Friday night.

I found it, no problem. I fast forward through the extra Jabba the Hut scene because I'm one of those Star Wars purists. I want the original theatrical releases on DVD, and I think us Star Wars fans need to petition Disney to do just that. They'd strike Star Wars gold, if you ask me.

The rest of the weekend was a little bit lazy, little bit working out. I did get outside on Saturday, but every time I turned to face south on the track, I was met with gale force winds. Texas weather can be so cruel. The sun was shining, it was 50 degrees (which to a former Boston resident is heaven!), but that wind that made things so very cold. At least I got to use my Garmin :-)

Then it was a good thing I did HIIT on Sunday. Saturday I was watching BBQ on the Food Network, and I started craving it. I hadn't eaten BBQ since maybe June, and I couldn't get my mind off it for dinner.

I got the pulled pork, and have enough leftovers for a whole other meal. HIIT is beating me up in a good way so I'm hoping I burned off the calories from my BBQ treat.

Friday, January 16, 2015

Friday Five's topic today is what is in my gym bag. I'll start off by saying I don't have a typical gym bag. I used to, but a couple Christmases ago, my parents gave me a Disney bag as a work bag type thing, and it's big enough that it holds my gym clothes. I simply wear my running shoes into work and change into dress shoes there.

1) Lacrosse ball - I keep up with rolling by having a lacrosse ball in my bag. I roll during my lunch break and have currently found the perfect spot to target. If I hit it just right, I feel the connection down in my knee.

2) Running capris - this is a rather new item. Dallas is cold enough in the winter that I've needed running capris so I don't freeze from the gym to my car. I have heavy running tights but they're a little too warm for the gym.

3) Sweaty Bands - I've written about Sweaty Bands before. I have a couple in my gym bag at all times in case I don't throw one in with the clothes I add each morning. They don't slip whatsoever, and my hair wisps can be out of control. My most recent purchase in coming in the mail this weekend :-)

4) Yurbuds - I have to hide these in my bag, all the way at the bottom, otherwise the cat will chew through the cords. I found during my first couple half marathon, the headphones I had would pinch my ears after an extended period of time, and the buds don't do that. Plus I had to replace my old headphones since Allie did chew through the cords.

5) Shoe freshener - when Allie starts going gaga over my shoes, it's time to freshen up the insoles and insides of the shoes. I use either the air freshening plastic balls or a freshening spray.

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Y'all, I needed the workout I got on Tuesday! I started intervals like PT wants me to do, and I was on the treadmill for 30 minutes! I haven't done that since 2013... throw in that I did 2.11 miles and that's the first I've done over 2 miles in quite a while. I really really really needed that. My leg felt good during and after the workout, and I found a really good spot to target my lacrosse ball rolling. I'll ease up a little bit during today's workout since I still want to be cautious, but Tuesday was a great boost for me.

Saturday I want to hit the track. The weather should warm up and I got a Garmin for Christmas that I haven't been able to test out yet. I was either sick or the cold and gloom settled over Dallas. I've also been packing to move apartments, so my weekends are a bit chaotic, but it's forecasted to be in the 60s on Saturday, and I'm determined to run outside.

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

I posted about the first Lady Darby mystery for my first Bookworm post, and I'm back with books 2 and 3. I got an Amazon gift card for Christmas and I decided I'd wrap up this series since book 4 won't be published until July. I need to read slower but when a mystery gets going and everything falls into place, I don't want to stop reading. And that point usually happens at the end of my lunch break or at 10pm.

If y'all haven't guessed, I like strong heroines who can be just as stubborn as I am. They can also deal with their situations and I'm not reading about a character who complains all the time. With this series, I feel each book is stronger than the last, and I'm able to envision the characters a lot more. I have done a little research to know what the fashion was like in the 1830s to help me out since I'm not familiar with that time period. All I have to say is there's a reason I'm not into fashion. I wonder what designers are on in this day and age, and I have to apply that question to the 1800s as well.

I also like that none of these 3 books take place in London. I feel a lot of mysteries take place sometime in London (just look through my book tab), and I like those, even love some of those series (and I love London), but this series has been in the Scottish countryside, Edinburgh, or the Borders.

Mortal Arts

Scotland, 1830. Lady Kiera Darby is no stranger to intrigue—in
fact, it seems to follow wherever she goes. After her foray into murder
investigation, Kiera must journey to Edinburgh with her family so that
her pregnant sister can be close to proper medical care. But the city is
full of many things Kiera isn’t quite ready to face: the society ladies
keen on judging her, her fellow investigator—and romantic
entanglement—Sebastian Gage, and ultimately, another deadly mystery.

Kiera’s old friend Michael Dalmay is about to be married, but the
arrival of his older brother—and Kiera’s childhood art tutor—William,
has thrown everything into chaos. For ten years Will has been missing,
committed to an insane asylum by his own father. Kiera is sympathetic to
her mentor’s plight, especially when rumors swirl about a local girl
gone missing. Now Kiera must once again employ her knowledge of the
macabre and join forces with Gage in order to prove the innocence of a
beloved family friend—and save the marriage of another…

A Grave Matter

Scotland, 1830. Following the death of her dear friend, Lady
Kiera Darby is in need of a safe haven. Returning to her childhood home,
Kiera hopes her beloved brother Trevor and the merriment of the
Hogmanay Ball will distract her. But when a caretaker is murdered and a
grave is disturbed at nearby Dryburgh Abbey, Kiera is once more thrust
into the cold grasp of death.

While Kiera knows that aiding in
another inquiry will only further tarnish her reputation, her knowledge
of anatomy could make the difference in solving the case. But agreeing
to investigate means Kiera must deal with the complicated emotions
aroused in her by inquiry agent Sebastian Gage.

When Gage
arrives, he reveals that the incident at the Abbey was not the
first—some fiend is digging up old bones and holding them for ransom.
Now Kiera and Gage must catch the grave robber and put the case to
rest…before another victim winds up six feet under.

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Instead, I'll write about how I got over my addled brain and figured out my new workout schedule. I really tried to figure out my new workout schedule this past Thursday, but I was so tired after being back from break. Since I work at a Texas public university, I get about 2 weeks off between Christmas and New Year's, and it's always interesting when I get back. My brain hasn't been on work at all, and then it has to. I couldn't figure out how I was doing to get 3 runs in each week, strength training, yoga and rest days.

Finally I figured it out. I've been taking 2 full rest days, but I've decided to make one of those yoga. It's still something, but it's not impactful and still rather restful, but it won't be a full rest day. Friday will absolutely be my rest day. I've tried in the past to workout on Fridays but I just mentally can't swing it. I'm ready for the weekend and I am tired.

The first guide I bought to help with HIIT

Running will be Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, strength training will be Sundays and Wednesdays, and yoga will be Mondays. I feel that's a good schedule, and even though I need to figure out what the run days during the week will entail, it's a good start.

Monday, January 12, 2015

OK, I miss Marathon Weekend. There, I said it. I know the races are getting crowded and I was extremely cranky last year since I had to walk the whole thing, but I miss being at Disney. I did watch the Live Stream for a bit yesterday morning, and I've been keeping up with pictures on social media.

Allie's not impressed, but we snuggled while I watched the stream.

I've decided if I can built up to a 10k comfortably, I want to go back to Disney races. I really like the 10k medals, can I say moreso than the half medals? I know, I know, but I mean, it's Minnie, and a Stormtrooper, and fairies...

*****

Have I mentioned how much I love Sweaty Bands? Wednesday they posted pictures of the exclusive Disney designs they made for Marathon Weekend, and I so wanted to get to Orlando to get one of those designs. I LOVE the Cheshire Cat band but didn't exactly know how I could get one. But then I saw they also posted their Custom Design team info if we wanted one of the designs but weren't going to be at Disney. So guess what I did? I ordered the Cheshire Cat band.

Thursday, January 8, 2015

I've mentioned a couple times my PT and I talked about what the game plan will be, but I haven't elaborated yet. Until this week, I was focused on building my strength back up after being sick since my form suffers if I'm tired. And if my form suffers, I feel it in my knee. I did 2 miles the weekend before I flew to Denver, and I was feeling good.

My ITBS was bothering me a little bit over this weekend, so I was hitting the foam roller and lacrosse ball multiple times a day. One thing I was shocked about when I had the flu, it was almost like my sciatic nerve was inflamed. As I was laying in bed, I could feel so much muscle tightness from my lower back, through my hips and IT bands, and into my quads. Just total yuck!

But I did do PT on NYE Day and discussed the game plan. It is changing things up, a lot, but I trust in what they want me to do. First, he wants me to run three times a week. I've been running two times a week, with more focus on strength training, stretching, yoga, and foam rolling. I'll still be doing that, but PT would like me to do tempo runs and intervals to pick up speed and get stronger.

The other aspect that's changing is more HIIT as strength training. If I do weight work, I should be doing low weight, high reps. I did my first HIIT on Monday, for abs, and ouch! When I woke up Tuesday I wasn't as sore as I thought, but steadily the soreness crept in and I could definitely feel it yesterday. I need to look at my weekly schedule and see if I need to change things, add a workout day when there was a rest day, etc.

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

The best of both worlds: a historical mystery series that uses real historical figures. Barbara Hamilton is the pen name of author Barbara Hambly, and these three books take Abigail Adams' world, and spins them into 3 mysteries. I really wish she'd write more of these mysteries, but the last one was published in 2011 :-( It's fun for me since I lived in Boston for almost 12 years, but of course today's Boston is so different from the Boston of the 1770s. Another fun part is I keep picturing Laura Linney as Abigail since she played the role in the HBO mini-series "John Adams."

The Ninth Daughter

1773: The Massachusetts colony is torn between patriots who want
independence from British rule and loyalists who support the King. At
the center is the educated and beautiful Abigail Adams?wife of John
Adams, the leader of the Sons of Liberty, a secret organization opposing
the Crown.

When a murder occurs in the home of their friend and
fellow patriot, Rebecca Malvern, John is accused of the gruesome crime,
which was seemingly perpetrated to obtain a secret Sons of Liberty
document. With both her husband's good name and the fate of the Sons of
Liberty at stake, Abby must uncover a conspiracy that could cost them
all their freedom and their lives.

A Marked Man

Abigail Adams, wife of attorney John Adams - who is deeply involved with
the Sons of Liberty - is shocked when one of the Sons is accused of
murder. Did the crime arise from the romantic competition for the
daughter of a prominent Royalist - or was it politically motivated?
Abigail and John believe the accused is innocent, though the evidence
against him is strong.

While John works to clear his client's
name, Abigail begins her own investigation, and soon learns several
unpleasant facts about the dead man, things that greatly increase the
number of possible suspects. But as she pursues the truth, the killer
pursues her- threatening not only Abigail but her vulnerable family.
Sup with the Devil

After an attempt on the life of her young nephew Horace, Abigail
Adams, wife of attorney John Adams, travels to Harvard to investigate. A
mysterious woman hired Horace to translate some Arabic, then left him
at the mercy of her henchmen. He survived - with a tale of pirate
treasure...Meanwhile one of Horace's fellow students - loyal to the
King - is murdered. The Sons of Liberty are desperate to find the
rumored gold, but Abigail wants the truth. For the Devil's treasure
comes with a curse that could bring down anyone, regardless of where
their allegiance lies.

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

How was everyone's New Year's Eve? I was asleep by 10 - I'm just not a NYE kind of girl. I even slept through Y2K. Anyone have goals for 2015? This year I've decided never to use "resolution" again because it implies I've been doing stuff wrong and resolutions are rarely kept. My mom and I were talking about this last week and I think goals are better. Goals are positive and something to achieve.

Anybody else love Calvin and Hobbes?

My shortest term goal would be to completely kick this flu and get 100% healthy. I got some running toys for Christmas and I want to play around with them. I'm getting better every day but I still have a cough I can't shake. I am weaning myself off of medicine though, and I hope to really be back to normal soon.

I'd also like to be able to do a 5k this year, and get certified at work. I went for that in September and missed by 12 points, mostly on a category I don't do at work. I can't be disappointed when it's a topic I've never been trained on and have no knowledge about. The best I could do was guess.

My thoughts have turned to a 5k, and I need to decided which 5k. Before Christmas break, I'd done 2 miles a few times, so 1.1 miles to go. I'm scaling back PT now to once every two weeks, and we have a game plan, which is more HIIT training and not heavy weights. This is a change for me since I normally avoided HIIT, and I'm looking on Amazon for guides to get workouts.

Monday, January 5, 2015

Hello to 2015! It's still shiny, that new car smell, etc. My arms are open and I'm ready to embrace the new year and hope for good things to come. Number 1: I hope to have a good birthday. Y'all, I'm turning 30 this month. I remember thinking 30 was so old, and that was so far in the future. It's funny what 7-year-olds think. Now I'm staring 30 right in the face!

Anyone seen any good movies over break? I saw Into the Woods and want my 2 hours back. I really wanted to like it. I have friends from high school who love it but I know a movie adaptation was not the best way to introduce myself to it. And aside from Pitch Perfect 2, there were no trailers that held my interest. I have to confess, every trailer I see for a Nicholas Sparks piece of work makes me want to hurl. I think it all started with the Notebook. It's sweet, but nothing more. I'd much rather watch a movie like Casablanca.